How to rewrite your perspective and help you see what’s already enough

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The voice of scarcity (and how it sneaks in)

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The stand-up comedy scene in the UK is weird. I think I went into it a little naive. In my head, it was going to be a way to spend time with lots of very funny people and make friends whilst doing something fun that a lot of people won’t ever do, and in a lot of ways, that’s exactly what it is. But there’s also an awareness amongst young stand-ups now that stand-up can be a route into other career paths. Whether that’s writing, television, acting, content producing or some other creative pursuit, it felt like there was a culture of using stand-up as a stepping stone.

This was combined with a sense of competition that is fostered by comedy promoters who would overtly run competitions (pitching new comedian’s against each other) and less overtly with emails for spots on a bill which you knew were limited and which you knew if you got, meant that someone else hadn’t got. 

And finally, there was a strange pressure of productivity. Again, this might be naivety on my end, but I expected the whole industry to be full of chilled, creative types who just came up with their best ideas out of the creative ether and got the recognition they deserved on talent alone. What actually happens is that a lot of people treat stand-up exactly like work. They structure their day around writing and testing material, they’re on the road constantly, and when they’re not doing that, they’re building a following on social media with stand-up clips, sketches and writing. On top of that, there’s the admin of applying for gigs, managing your calendar, invoicing and chasing payments… the list goes on. 

The weird thing is, whilst I was in the industry, I completely became a part of this. I was waking up at 6am and spending two hours before leaving for my day job writing jokes. Then I’d leave work, get in the car and drive to a new material night, where I’d meticulously copy the new jokes onto index cards before setting up my phone camera on a tripod and going out to test the new material. Then I’d get home around midnight and review the video to see what looked like it might work and what definitely didn’t. I’d repeat the process all through the week, ahead of (hopefully) doing some paid work at the weekend where I’d be happy if I had one or two new jokes in my set. I entered national competitions, I worked on being on social media, I found a formula of what worked for me and when it started working, I stuck to that formula. 

And then I fell out of love with stand-up.

Why did I do it? I’d never gone into it with the hopes of making it a career. I’d never planned on entering competitions. I wanted a creative outlet where I could try new things but very quickly I allowed myself to become defined and restricted.

It was all because of the voice of scarcity. That often subtle, internal voice that says;

“You’re behind.”
“There’s not enough time today.”
“That guy has it more figured out than you do.”

Sometimes it’s less subtle. You see other people celebrating their wins, people who don’t seem to work as hard as you or haven’t been working as long get rewarded above you, social media telling you everyone is more attractive or more successful than you. 

This is the scarcity mindset. And it can affect all aspects of your life, such as how you approach your time, your work, your energy, your relationships — even your sense of self-worth.

For me, I started to feel resentful towards people who were getting opportunities I wasn’t. I couldn’t see how much work they were doing, but I knew how hard I was working, and surely they weren’t working harder? This feeling made it harder to appreciate my own wins because I was always comparing myself to other people. It also put me in a never ending loop, because I’d feel jealousy and then feel extreme guilt that I couldn’t just be happy for someone. That wasn’t the type of person I wanted to be and it was making me unhappy.

What I’ve learned and worked on since is this idea that we can’t control our circumstances, but we can control how we experience them, and journaling has been a powerful tool for regaining that control.

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Scarcity vs. Abundance: the two mindsets we swing between

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So before we get into how to use your journal, I should probably define what a scarcity and an abundance mindset is.

A scarcity mindset Is the belief that aspects of life, such as happiness and success, are a finite resource. It is a naturally competitive and combative mindset, because if these things are limited, then naturally someone having them means there is less available to you. If someone else wins, that means you have lost. Scarcity mindset clings to what it has, fears what it doesn’t, and constantly compares.

An abundance mindset, on the other hand, is an understanding that not all good things are in short supply. We aren’t in competition for time, ideas, creativity, connection, love or opportunity. It allows us to be more confident and satisfied with what we have, and to see the possibilities that are available to us, rather than the things people might take from us.

You could choose anyone you know and look at your external facing lives and see that they have an almost identical life on the face of it, but the way you both experience your life can be wildly different depending on which mindset you are living from.

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Why journaling helps break the scarcity loop

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The scarcity mindset puts us in a fear loop, because every time we see someone succeed, we tell ourselves that there is less success available for us, and whether or not that success was available to us, the victim mentality convinces us they have taken that from us. This can make us deeply unhappy and unsatisfied, and it just perpetuates the more we see people around us succeed. It makes us less satisfied or less able to see our own successes, which can be a really unhappy place to be, and this whole thing happens silently in the background of your mind.

Your journal helps you to identify and shine a light on this mindset. By regularly writing, you can;

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• Surface limiting beliefs
  
• Spot thought spirals before they deepen
  
• Reframe your narrative
  
• Record and reinforce the parts of your life that are working
  

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Your journal gives you a quiet space to ask: Is what I am currently thinking true? Or is this fear speaking?

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“Where attention goes, energy flows.” – Tony Robbins

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Journaling prompts to move from scarcity to abundance

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If you’re looking to use your journal to identify and change from a scarcity mindset, then here are a few powerful prompts that can help you recognize the voice of scarcity and gradually choose something different.

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Awareness: noticing scarcity

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• Where in my life do I feel like there’s never enough?
  
• What story am I telling myself about what I lack?
  
• Who would I be without that story?
  

Gratitude: seeing what’s already here

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• What do I have today that I once wished for?
  
• What brought me peace or joy in the last 24 hours?
  
• Who showed up for me recently, and how?
  

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Reframing: turning fear into opportunity

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• In what ways do I already have more than I realize?
  
• What’s one thing that’s working well right now?
  
• If I knew everything was unfolding for me, how would I respond to today’s challenge?
  

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Vision: living from enough

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• Write a journal entry as if you already have what you desire. What’s different about your day?
  
• If I acted today like I had enough time/money/love/etc., what would I do differently?
  

One small shift, one big impact

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Stand up had put me in a scarcity mindset loop. All around me, people seemed to be succeeding and progressing faster than I was, and it felt as though there wasn’t enough success to go around. I began feeling resentful and then guilty that I couldn’t be happy for people. Even my successes felt “not enough”. Not enough progress, not enough traction, I wasn’t working hard enough. 

Journaling helped me identify this mindset and understand that it was coming from a place of fear. It helped me come to terms with the fact that there is plenty of success and happiness to go around and it helped me realign with myself. I’m not usually a jealous or unhappy person, and I was losing myself to this constant comparison to other people.

Journaling allows you to understand and take control of how you meet and experience your life, and that can be a powerful tool for being happier and more satisfied.

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Practicing abundance on the page

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Making a shift to an abundance mindset can help you feel happier, more confident, less afraid and more satisfied, but it isn’t something that you “master”. Instead, it is a constant practice to identify moments where you return to the scarcity mindset and to identify opportunities to experience a situation from an abundance mindset. Keep returning to it, and keep practicing.

Start small. Keep it simple. Trust that the act of noticing what’s already here will slowly expand your vision for what’s possible.

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” – Wayne Dyer